Nashville-based artist Wila Frank’s new single ‘The Falling Hours’ comes 4 months after the release of her stunning debut Black Cloud which NPR Music (All Songs Considered) called “Introspective and cinematic”. The new single takes a more romantic turn, featuring Frank’s acoustic guitar prowess, sultry violins, and the same band from her album; Royal Masat (Billy Strings) on bass and Wendy Killman (Jenny Beth, etc.) on drums. About the single, Frank says “The Falling Hours is a sort of prophecy about what a relationship could turn into. It’s about knowing instinctively that your destiny is intertwined with someone else; the intimacy and weight of that knowledge.”

Wila Frank makes music that’s searching, cinematic, and introspective with scalpel-like precision. Her songs can clear the air, putting to music emotions that are deeply felt but only rarely spoken. With her debut album Black Cloud, the 24-year-old songwriter immediately sets a mesmerizing mood that showcases her evocative lyricism as well as her tasteful ear as a multi-instrumentalist and producer. Though just eight tracks, the album is a resounding statement of intent, an introduction to a fully-formed voice and perspective that boasts a freewheeling ability to jump between genres and textures.

While Frank’s raw lyrics can recall Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker, she was inspired by artists like PJ Harvey and Anna Calvi just as much as the brooding soundscapes of Massive Attack and Radiohead. And though her vision as a producer and multi-instrumentalist shaped the album, she enlisted her former roommate bassist Royal Masat (Billy Strings), drummer Wendy Killman (Jehnny Beth), and mixing engineer Sam Petts-Davies (Radiohead) to help fulfill it.

Frank was raised on a farm in a rural bohemian community near the Oregon coast, where she formed a passion for classical and folk music. She learned violin at only four years old, followed by piano, mandolin, cello, and guitar. “I lost my dad when I was 12 in a tragic accident and that’s when I started writing songs,” she says. “I was processing a lot of grief without really understanding what was going on so a lot of my songs were pent-up emotions that didn’t know how to express themselves elsewhere”.

At 18, she moved to Nashville to record and tour with indie-folk duo Paper Wings and Civil Wars alum, Joy Williams. While folk music and mastering the violin were essential to Frank’s life, her own songwriting led her to entirely different feelings and moods. “Growing up, my identity was completely entwined with the violin and folk community,” says Frank. “But I didn’t want to feel confined by genre anymore. In 2020, I picked up the electric guitar because my dad used to have a punk band with his friends and I loved falling asleep as a kid listening to them practice in the barn.”

Black Cloud is a testament to an artist taking risks and being honest with herself. “There’s an element of escapism and processing my past, but this album is really about expressing parts of myself that I don’t share in my everyday life,” she says, “It’s me speaking the things I can’t say in words”.

SOURCE: Official Bio

LINKS:
https://wilafrank.com
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https://twitter.com/wila_frank
https://www.instagram.com/wilafrank/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BytlUovIxRBOBPdbC3UWu?si=coQ42mjySJWqRdUHRbEi7A